The End of Dreams
by nuwa
Summary: At the point of his life where Edge is suceeding in both love and career, something happens that will change his perspective, forever...
1. BBQ

(This is a 'Wraith: The Oblivion' inspired fanfic with prowrestling characters. It was written shortly before WWF became WWE. Please don't think of it as a Mary Sue tale, at least until you see where this story is going. I've posted this elsewhere once under the name 'rumor'. I've made changes since, mainly to fix loopholes but not much else.)   
  
1: BBQ  
  
  
  
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The sky is gray now, and rain often falls in these seasons after you have left. I no longer see your shadow in the mirror, nor in the quiet pond behind the yard where we used to laugh and whisper sweet things.BR  
  
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Hamburgers sizzled in the grill. The smell of burnt marshmallows hung in the air. Jeff Hardy squinted at the words he had written in the small, dog-eared notebook. The way his career was speeding along, it had   
  
been a long time since he had any free time to write. Now, taking the pencil from behind his ear, he scribbled beneath, in light pencil, Rachel...  
  
  
  
"Hardy!"   
  
  
  
A baseball flew through the air and landed at his feet. Hastily, he stuffed the notebook in a back pocket and tossed the pencil away. "Whassup?" He rallied, at the approaching figure. "Adam can't throw straight?"  
  
  
  
Adam Copeland laughed and threw the baseball glove down. "Game over!" He said. "Time to check if Shane and the girls are burning everything on the grill!" He clutched his neck with his hands and made a choking noise. Loud jeers sounded from where Shane and 'the girls' - Matt, Jay, Denise, Jen and Marissa - were turning skewers. Pulling Jeff up from the moldy log on which he was sitting, they ran across the green to where the others were gathering.  
  
  
  
"Adam!" Jen squealed, handing a burger on a paper plate to her fiancé. "God, I hope this is edible!" She smiled and watched his face for a reaction. It was the first time she tried her hand at grilling anything; Shane, and his wife Marissa had given her a few tips, but the rest was her own effort. She hoped it didn't gross her man out too much...  
  
  
  
Adam took the plate and removed the bread to examine the patty. Half of it was black and crusty, the other half looked pink and rare. Shifting his attention from the burger to his fiancée, he took in her soulful blue eyes, and the beautiful smile which had captured his heart one summer's day five years ago. Then he took a big bite of the burger. "Jen, this tastes delicious," He exclaimed. "But not half as delicious as how you taste!" He slid an arm around her waist and gave her a quick squeeze and a kiss, handling the half-eaten burger surreptitiously to the unsuspecting Jeff. It seemed to start off a domino effect - Shane and Jay, watching and not to be outdone, gave their wife and girlfriend a quick peck on the cheek as well.  
  
  
  
"Will you look at that? I think I'm gonna hurl." Matt stuck his tongue out at the spectacle unfolding before him, and made a face at his brother. Jeff laughed, and took the chance to throw the ruined burger into a bin before anyone noticed. At times like this, he thought, he felt a trace of what might be called envy, standing in the midst of these loving couples. Maybe Matt - having always been the better one at moving on - didn't feel it, but he did, acutely. It reminded him of a time when he too had been that happy. "Jeffie, whatcha thinking?"  
  
  
  
Jeff looked up from his thoughts and gave his brother a pat on the shoulder. "Nuthin'." It wasn't fair to Matt, for him to rake up the past. Their careers were taking off, and things were looking so promising - maybe it was time for his brother to give love a chance. Nudging Matt, he winked. "Why don't you get one of them girlfriends?" The word "girlfriend' piqued the curiosity of the couples making out and Shane, Adam and Jen looked over to check his reply.  
  
  
  
Matt grinned. "Yeah, maybe when Jeff gets one." Everyone laughed, and Adam booed. Here we go again, Jeff thought, making fun of my sexuality. They knew he wasn't homosexual, they just loved to joke about his interesting taste in clothes. Were neon Flintstone pants really that gay? He didn't think so. Scrunching up his nose, he ignored them and peeled a marshmallow off a skewer, popping it into his mouth.  
  
  
  
There was a loud popping sound and they turned. All the people who had been inside now emerged - Vince and Linda McMahon, Paul 'The Game' Levesque, Joanie, Ivory, Kurt Angle and his wife Karen, Steve 'Austin' Williams and his wife Deborah, the whole lot. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson held out a bottle of champagne from which foam was liberally drizzling. Everyone cheered. Pouring the champagne into the glasses arranged on the table, he shouted, "To a successful show!"  
  
  
  
Right on cue, Shane interrupted with his little speech. "Guys!" He said, "I just want to thank you all for making Wrestlemania the success that it was. This celebration is in your honor, enjoy yourselves and feel free to make a mess of the house and the yard, just don't break anything." Everyone laughed, and followed it with loud cheering. Stephanie yelled, "WWF rules!" Vince and Linda just stood watching, both proud and amused that their son and heir was acting like he already owned the company. The sun was setting over the McMahon estate; the glass windows of the house refracted the soft light so the scene seemed like something out of a dream, an ethereal moment captured in the instant before it fades. 


	2. Spin

2: Spin  
  
They weren't the only couple who had left early. Things got a little bizarre when an intoxicated Vince suggested they all sit around the couch and sing karaoke. One by one the guests excused themselves, beginning with Matt and Jeff. Made sense, he thought, the whole concept of karaoke didn't quite blend with their 'bad goth boys' image... And then it was Steve and Debra in their SUV, and then Kurt and Karen, giving Dwayne a lift. When Jay and Denise took their leave, he decided it was probably time to go and leave the McMahons to their strange bonding rituals.   
  
It was beginning to drizzle. Turning on the wiper, Adam leaned into the seat and put the car into auto. The route back to the city was scenic in a feral way, it was a pity the rain and the night obscured the view.  
  
"That was some barbeque."  
  
He turned to Jen, and grinned. "You bet. If anyone knows how to throw a party, it's the McMahons."  
  
The rhythmic jolting of the vehicle along the grainy road was lulling; from the mirror he could see the face of his beloved, drowsy and satiated, a few strands of her fair hair plastered across her forehead. Turning away, he looked out into the dark night flanked by the woods so she would not see his smile. He loved the way she looked when she was asleep. So vulnerable and so open, as if she trusted him with her life.  
  
Five years ago, he might have thought that trust misplaced. But now, the new contract he'd signed with Vince promised a sunny future, financial security. That gimmick he had with Jay was becoming something the fans loved to hate, it wouldn't grow old that soon and even if it did, he would still be hot property. More importantly, he'd saved a tidy sum and together with the change he'd reaped from some clever investing, it would be enough to tide a small family over for a good number of years. He shut his eyes and pictured the two of them house-shopping for a place along a pretty suburb, maybe something more.  
  
Jen stirred in her sleep, and he placed a comforting hand over hers. Nothing pleased him more than how she got along with his friends and their wives, particularly Shane and Marissa. It had taken some convincing on his part and Jay's, roping in Denise to pitch the sale, before Jen realized that wrestlers really were family-oriented people, outside of the violence and flesh parade they trotted out in the ring. Now that they'd passed that stage, he thought, patting the bulge in his pocket, what came next was a natural progression. He had it all figured out. Tonight would be the night. When they drove in to the garage, he'd fall to his knees and open his heart to her...  
  
The truck veered in from nowhere. Adam jerked up in his seat, one hand instinctively reaching for the wheel. But the cloak of the night cast itself around the black Buick in which the lovers dreamt. There was no time to swerve, and no point in braking. The seatbelt jolted hard against his stomach at the sickening impact, the front of the car crumpled within moments. The last thing he saw was the windscreen, slowly dissolving in the intricate pattern of cobwebs before it shattered against him.   
  
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'Things fall apart, the center cannot hold.' - W.B. Yeats. 


End file.
